Additional scrutiny of Walter Ringfield Jr., currently under arrest for the theft of an electronic security fob used to access vote tabulation machines from the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center, has revealed a troubling pattern of implication in criminal actions surrounding Arizona elections.
Caroline Wren, a fundraiser and Senior Advisor to GOP U.S. Senate Candidate Kari Lake, has revealed that Ringfield was named in a 2022 lawsuit between the Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AFEC) and Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections. The lawsuit challenged the registrations of several of its circulators. Ringfield was identified among those circulators with “multiple infractions against them,” in Exhibit A of the lawsuit by the AFEC.
Hi 👋 @azfec, thanks for highlighting this story. Need your help with something.
In 2022 you filed a lawsuit against Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections challenging the circulator registrations. Per exhibit A in your lawsuit, one of those circulators with multiple infractions… https://t.co/07GHGgaUy8pic.twitter.com/u7Tm0XnyfP
In a post to X, Wren asked three questions regarding Ringfield’s mention in the lawsuit:
Who paid Walter to gather signatures for the Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections campaign?
Has Walter been a signature gatherer for any other campaigns or ballot initiatives in Arizona?
What were the nature of the objections against the signatures Walter turned in in exhibit A of your lawsuit?
Arizona Free Enterprise Club President Scot Mussi offered some answers to AZ Free News, explaining that, “In 2022 Ringfield Jr. worked for Sutton and Smart to collect for Free and Fair.”
Mussi added, “This cycle he worked for a time on the Abortion Initative (through Fieldworks) and is currently registered to collect for the RCV/Jungle Primary initiative (Make Elections Fair) through Advanced Micro Targeting.”
Finally, he revealed AFEC’s objections against Ringfield, “As for the objections we made against Ringfield Jr., they dealt with the fact that he failed to properly register with the Secretary of State as a paid circulator.”
In the complaint filed in 2022 by Mussi, the AFEC alleges, “Signatures collected by certain circulators of the Initiative Petition who were required to have been, but were not, properly registered with the Secretary of State are void as a matter of law. Specifically, these individuals either:
a. Failed to register with the Secretary of State prior to collecting signatures in support of the Initiative Petition, and hence did not strictly comply with A.R.S. § 19-118(A);
b. Failed to provide a signed and notarized affidavit averring to the accuracy of the specific information included in their registration for measure I-16-2022, and hence did not strictly comply with A.R.S. § 19-118(B)(5);
c. Failed to provide on their registration submissions to the Secretary of State a full and complete permanent and (if applicable) temporary residential address—to include the relevant apartment or unit number, if the circulator resided in a multiunit complex—and hence did not strictly comply with A.R.S. § 19-118(B)(1);
d. Misrepresented on their registration submissions to the Secretary of State one or more required items of contact information, and hence did not strictly comply with A.R.S. § 19-118(B)(1); or
e. Failed to provide on their registration submissions to the Secretary of State the statutorily required address for service of process, and hence did not strictly comply with A.R.S. § 19-118(B)(4).”
A search of LinkedIn by Wren also confirmed that one “Walter Ringfield Jr” shows a history of volunteering in 2022 with Our Voice Our Vote, which Wren described as “a far-left wing advocacy group funded by Open Society Foundation,” although this is not reflected by his registrations with the Secretary of State.
In an extensive post to X, Wren outlined that Ringfield also has a previous criminal history and was arrested and charged with one count of theft and criminal damage in 2023 having allegedly stolen $1,800 from a former employer citing VoteBeat and noted that he was entered into a diversion program and was not convicted as a result. It was likely due to this diversion that he was able to pass a background check from Maricopa County.
In case you’re new here or just confused as to what the heck is going on in Maricopa County, here is a quick recap:
On Monday, June 24 the Maricopa County Sheriff’s office @mcsoaz released a statement saying there had been a theft by an election worker at the Maricopa County…
Reporting from the Arizona Daily Independent also noted that Ringfield filed a statement of interest in 2023 to run for U.S. Senate as a Democrat and was also implicated in a June 19 theft from the Arizona Senate Building.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Caroline Wren is an attorney. The story has been corrected.
Authorities from the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center (MCTEC) are now re-conducting logic and accuracy testing on county election equipment following the theft of an electronic key fob from the Ballot Tabulation Center last Thursday. The suspect, a now-former employee, Walter Ringfield, 27, was terminated from his role Friday and has since been placed under arrest after surveillance footage revealed him pocketing a red lanyard holding the security device. A police report obtained by the Arizona Sun Times stated that “Walter said the job was temporary and he was trying to make it permanent, so he wanted to clean up,” without further explanation.
Ringfield has been charged with counts of both misdemeanor theft and felony criminal damage and is currently being held by Maricopa County. He was denied bail due to a prior criminal history which the Times noted involved allegedly trespassing and stealing from the Arizona Senate Building.
UPDATE: DPS is investigating a theft of some personal items from a Senate employee. The crime occurred at the Senate on June 15th. The suspect appears to be the same individual recently arrested for stealing from Maricopa County. In response to requests from the public, we are… pic.twitter.com/RrNZQ4Q7f4
A county spokesman explained via email to The Center Square, “On Friday morning, when completing a daily inventory, Maricopa County elections workers identified that an item was taken from the Ballot Tabulation Center on Thursday evening, and staff took immediate action to investigate the matter and contacted the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.”
They added, “The stolen item has been recovered but to ensure the integrity of Maricopa County Elections, election workers are reprogramming and re-conducting logic and accuracy testing of all equipment.”
At a joint press conference Tuesday, Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates and Maricopa County Sheriff Russ Skinner explained that the device is used on election day to access tabulators. Gates told reporters, “So this black security key right here, this is utilized under normal circumstances. This is just used on Election Day. This is for the Election Day tabulators. So the folks who are involved in that going out to the 223 vote centers that we have across Maricopa County on July 30, on primary day. This will be out there. What we do at the beginning of each day, we do an inventory check and make sure that we have all of these black security keys.”
He added, “We did that on Friday morning. We found that one was missing. So immediately, our team and elections, they spoke to all of the people who were working in the ballot tabulation center on Thursday, the day before, and they also reviewed the security camera footage. So we have security cameras, we also have the live stream cameras. They evaluated that, and they determined that the suspect that we’ve been talking about had taken the black security key and put it in his pocket and then removed it from the ballot tabulation center.”
“When people who we have entrusted to work on elections violate that trust, we’re going to act upon it. We’re going to act strongly, we’re going to get to the bottom of it and we’re going to make sure [that] if there’s someone else who decides to do something like this, we’ll be on the phone with the sheriff again,” Gates said.
“We’re not messing around here. This is too important and we know that the residents of Maricopa County and the voters of Maricopa County are trusting in us to make sure that this is a safe and secure election.” The Arizona Secretary of State’s office said in a statement published by the New York Post that actions taken by Maricopa County following the incident should “reassure the public” about the “security measures in place.”
“Our systems are not only designed to detect anomalies but are also supported by dedicated professionals committed to upholding the democratic process. While this event is unwelcome, it speaks the effectiveness of the security protocols built into Arizona’s election systems.”
“The swift actions of the Maricopa County elections staff, including the re-conducting of logic and accuracy tests, builds in extra layers of protection of all affected equipment. This quick response will prevent any potential impact on the upcoming elections. The Secretary of State’s office will collaborate with law enforcement to address and investigate this incident to ensure accountability and swift justice,” the statement concluded.
Maricopa County told the press in a statement that the leadership of both parties were notified Friday of the new Logic and Accuracy testing along with information about the theft and the County’s actions. Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement published by the Times, “The RNC and AZGOP dispatched attorneys and observers on the ground as part of our election integrity program to gather information and promote transparency as the situation developed. The RNC and AZGOP have a long history of engaging in Maricopa County election issues both in the field and in the courtroom, and yesterday’s events are an example of our election integrity program’s capacity to provide real-time legal response when issues arise at tabulation centers. This incident raises serious questions about election security in Arizona that must be answered – we will be constructively engaged with Maricopa County officials to ensure that the remedies to this security breach sufficiently address our concerns.”
